Latest news with #CanadaRevenueAgency
CTV News
16 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Vancouver woman mistakenly declared dead after filing late husband's tax return
June Miller and her late husband Giorgio pose for a selfie. After submitting his final tax return, she found the CRA had declared her dead as well. When June Miller's husband Giorgio died last September after 35 years of marriage, her world came crashing down. 'We were best friends, we did everything together,' said Miller. When she went to file Giorgio's final tax return, she was told it would not be accepted online, and needed to be mailed. 'So I put his and mine in the same envelope and shipped them off,' said Miller. She was flabbergasted when she got her notice of assessment back from the Canada Revenue Agency. It was addressed to 'the estate of the late June Miller.' 'I went to go online to look at my account, but it was locked. So I called them and they said, 'You're deceased.' I said, 'You're talking to me! Deceased, what are you saying? You have to change that,'' said Miller. 'And they said, 'Well, there's a process. You have to prove that you're alive.'' Miller went to Service Canada in person and submitted all of her identifying documents, along with a letter from the funeral home that handled her husband's service that said Giorgio had died, not June. She also presented a letter from her doctor saying she is very much alive. But so far, it hasn't been enough to bring her back from the dead in the CRA's eyes. 'I said, 'I really want you to help me because I don't want to be dead.' My goal is to be 107, and they took that away a month ago,' said Miller. The 65-year-old widow has just retired, but she's been told she's unlikely to get Canada Pension Plan payments while she's declared dead. Needing income, she'd like to go back to work, but because her social insurance number has been deactivated, she needs to apply for a new one. 'There was a point where I laughed,' Miller said, adding her late husband would find some humour in this situation too. 'Giorgio is up there and he's laughing, going, 'Oh June, look at this mess you got yourself into.' And then I was annoyed and angry, because I'm talking and I'm repeating and I'm talking and I'm repeating, and nobody's getting it at Canada Revenue Agency.' In an email, the CRA said it can't discuss Miller's case due to privacy, but outlined some possible reasons for a person to mistakenly be declared dead. 'It could be human error, a miscommunication from another government department, or, most often, a mistake made when a return is filed on behalf of a deceased person with an incorrect SIN number,' the email said. The CRA added when it does happen, the agency tries to address it immediately. 'We understand that this can be both alarming and have financial implications. Our goal is to minimize any occurrence, and if it occurs, deal with it quickly. Generally, the issue can be quickly resolved once we are advised of the error,' the email said. Miller says she's spoken to many officials both in person and on the phone and no one seems to be able to help her. She's been told she has to wait while a board looks into her status, adding: 'They're going to review it, and deem me alive or dead.'
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
This CRA chat was supposed to help; Canadians say it's just another headache
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A new online chat service introduced by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to reduce pressure on its overloaded phone lines is now drawing fresh criticism from taxpayers due to limited staffing and poor accessibility. Launched in October for users logged into their CRA online accounts, the chat service was intended to offer a more efficient and smoother way for Canadians to get help with certain tax the CRA has trained fewer than 100 staff to operate the chat, a stark contrast to the 4,000 full-time-equivalent employees it assigns to its call chat is also only available from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET, a narrower service window than CRA phone lines. And unlike many customer service platforms, the chat does not provide an estimated wait time, often leaving users confused when no response comes or when the system simply states that the queue is Ombudsperson François Boileau said his office is hearing frequent complaints about the online chat. 'It's not a surprise for us hearing that taxpayers are having trouble accessing the CRA's online chat service,' he told The Globe and the chat tool uses artificial intelligence to answer basic questions, such as how to apply for benefits. More complex inquiries are directed to live agents, but agent availability is users connect outside business hours or when all agents are busy, they receive a message stating the queue is unavailable, without knowing it is a pilot program with limited growing criticism, the CRA has not publicly indicated that the chat is still in testing. CRA spokesperson Sylvie Branch confirmed that the agency is 'continuing to re-evaluate online chat to find the right balance between this service offering and the telephone lines.'Contact centers, including both traditional call lines and the new chat, have remained the top source of complaints submitted to the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson for the past two fiscal also report receiving inaccurate, incomplete, or unclear responses even when they do reach an ombudsperson had earlier urged the CRA to allow users to request a callback online, similar to a feature already available through Service Canada . However, the CRA has not implemented the change, citing technical agency has taken some steps to improve service, including authentication passcodes to speed up call times and AI chatbots to handle simple queries.
Toronto Star
5 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Star
He paid $13,000 in taxes through a company listed on the CRA's website — but the money disappeared
Rodney Conlon owed nearly $13,000 in personal income tax, so he thought he'd try a new way to pay that was advertised on the Canada Revenue Agency's website. The federal agency's website provides links to two companies — one Canadian, the other American — that will process credit card payments and funnel funds to the CRA for taxpayers.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Accessing federal benefits in Canada just got easier for newcomers
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced a new online application process to make it easier for newcomers to access federal benefits and credit payments. Previously, eligible temporary and permanent residents had to submit paper forms to claim these benefits. With the new system in place, newcomers can now apply online through the CRA's website. For many forms, the process takes less than 20 minutes, CIC News reports. The CRA has also introduced a simplified form for newcomers without children who want to apply for the GST/HST credit and the Canada Carbon Rebate . Newcomers may be eligible for various benefit programs even before they file their first tax return. These include: GST/HST Credit: A quarterly, tax-free payment to help low-income individuals and families offset the cost of sales tax. Canada Carbon Rebate: A quarterly payment to help offset the cost of carbon pricing. The last payment was issued on April 22, 2025, but newcomers can apply for retroactive payments if eligible. Canada Child Benefit : A monthly tax-free payment for families with children under 18. Temporary residents must have lived in Canada for 18 months to qualify. To access these benefits, newcomers must have a Social Insurance Number (SIN), which they can obtain from Service Canada. The SIN application process has also recently been simplified. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) For tax purposes, the CRA classifies someone as a newcomer during their first year of residency in Canada. This applies to both temporary and permanent residents, starting from the day they arrive with sufficient residential ties such as a home, family, or other legal ties. Live Events RECOMMENDED STORIES FOR YOU New Canada strong pass opens doors to citizens and immigrants, providing free access to national parks and discounts on travel Canada's population growth slows as immigration rules tighten The CRA is the federal agency responsible for tax collection and benefit distribution. It also manages certain provincial and territorial programs inclusive of fulfilling tax obligations, excluding that of Quebec.
Vancouver Sun
21-06-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Canada's tax court rejects appeal from accused in B.C.'s largest alleged money-laundering operation
The Tax Court of Canada has dismissed appeals over undeclared income of more than $6 million from two people who were implicated in B.C.'s largest alleged money-laundering operation. Paul King Jin and his wife Xiaoqi (Apple) Wei had appealed Canada Revenue Agency reassessments of 'undeclared' income, which the CRA said came from a money-lending business that charged steep interest, as much as 10 per cent a week, a massage parlour business since sold, and a property sale. The appeals were rejected, in part, because Jin and Wei did not show up for hearings last year, according to judgments obtained by Postmedia. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The CRA had asked for a dismissal of the appeals, which Tax Court Justice David Spiro granted, for Jin and Wei's 'failure to prosecute them with due dispatch.' The court allowed appeals from Caixuan Qin and Silver International, an alleged and now defunct underground bank in Richmond, and sent their cases back to the minister of national revenue for reconsideration. The Canada Revenue Agency would not say what are the next steps or whether they would seek taxes and penalties from Jin and Wei for the undeclared income, citing privacy laws. The CRA had alleged that Jin and Wei made or assented to making false statements or omissions in their tax returns, that included failing to report income from the money-lending business. 'Those false statements or omissions were made … knowingly or under circumstances amounting to gross negligence,' said the CRA's court filings. A gross negligence penalty can be as much as 50 per cent on top of the tax owed on unreported income. In its court filings, the CRA said Jin had undeclared income of $3.62 million from 2009-2015 and Wei had $2.76 million in undeclared income from 2012-2015. During that period, Jin reported income of just more than $269,000, an average of less than $40,000 a year, said the CRA. Wei reported income of $69,301, including $1 in 2013. All four parties argued the information used to make the tax reassessments violated their Charter rights because it came from a failed 2015 RCMP investigation into money laundering. Of the parties, only Qin faced criminal charges as a result of the RCMP investigation, charges that were stayed in 2018. No criminal charges were laid against Jin and Wei in the case, which alleged as much as $220 million in dirty money was washed using wealthy Asian gamblers. Qin was accused of operating the underground bank. Jin was accused of receiving nearly $27 million from the bank during a 4½ month period in 2015, as well as running extortion and illegal gambling operations in Richmond. Records filed by Jin and Wei in the Tax Court case say they were informed in 2018 they were no longer under investigation and would not be charged in the RCMP's 2015 E-Pirate investigation. Jin was also cleared in another major money laundering investigation . A special prosecutor appointed by Premier David Eby, when he was the attorney general, declared no charges would be laid in the case that involved millions of dollars that moved through bank accounts, including in China, and bulk cash supplied to Jin. In Qin's case, the CRA's court filing said her undeclared income of $2.33 million between 2011 to 2015 was in part from 'large sums of money' earned by Silver International. Silver International's undeclared income was put at $1.94 million. During that period, Qin had stated her total income as $25,427, less than one per cent of her alleged unreported earnings. Qin was the sole shareholder and director of Silver International, had control of its operations, including sole signing authority, and she deposited cash in 'round' numbers into her personal bank accounts, said the CRA's court filings. Qin's 'lifestyle was far beyond what she could have afforded based on her reported income,' said the CRA. The tax appeal cases had moved slowly, delayed in part by the pandemic. Some reassessments were filed by the CRA as far back as 2017, and some court actions started more than 5½ years ago. ghoekstra@
